Sitting is the new smoking. That's what they said. That is, a bunch of scientists, academics and news organisations a few years back.
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After the initial panic, more articles came out that asked: "Is Sitting Really the New Smoking?", "Sitting is the new smoking: where do we stand?" and "Why sitting is not the new smoking".
Confused? So are we. As we write this from our standing desk, we do wonder where the truth lies. Usually it's somewhere in between. Does this mean we should all work and watch TV while squatting?
We were intrigued when we read that "a growing body of evidence suggests not all sitting is equal".
"For example, sitting down at work isn't strongly linked with long-term health risks. Perhaps that's because higher status jobs involve more sitting, and higher socioeconomic position is linked with a lower risk of chronic disease," University of Sydney Associate Professor Emmanuel Stamatakis wrote on The Conversation website.
Whoa, we're delving deep now.
There are different types of sitting
The good professor continued: "It's a different case for sitting watching TV, the type of sitting most consistently linked with long-term health risks such as type 2 diabetes, heart disease and an early death".
"People who watch a lot of TV tend to be of lower socioeconomic status, unemployed, have poorer mental health, eat unhealthy foods and get exposed to unhealthy food advertising."
Whoa, hang on a sec. Why is TV the bad guy? Can't it be Facebook?
Local research adds data to the debate
Anyhow, the point of this article is that research into sitting has been happening in the Hunter. And with good reason.
Gillian Mason, who is the Hunter Stroke Register's manager, tells us University of Newcastle researchers have completed a study into the sitting time of people who have had a stroke.
This study showed that people who stood up every 30 minutes and did three minutes of light intensity exercise had lower blood pressure over the day, compared with sitting continuously for eight hours [toilet breaks were allowed!].
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This benefit occurred even for people who were on blood pressure medication.
The upshot was that people who have had a stroke need more support to return to activities that they find meaningful.
And, we should add, it adds another piece of data to the debate about the health dangers of sitting.
For more on stroke research in the Hunter, visit hmri.org.au/stroke-register or phone 4042 0093.
Is sitting unhealthy? first appeared on The Newcastle Herald
